Oleh Abdul Yazid Alias
SHAH ALAM 8 April – Bekas Menteri Besar Selangor, Datuk Seri Dr. Mohamad Khir Toyo menafikan beliau meluluskan projek ternakan babi bernilai RM100 juta seperti yang didakwa kerajaan campuran Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), DAP dan Pas Selangor.
Menurutnya, walaupun perbincangan mengenainya pernah dibuat dalam Mesyuarat Exco Kerajaan Negeri pada 30 Januari lalu, beliau tidak pernah mengeluarkan sebarang arahan mahupun memberikan kelulusan.
Ini kerana katanya, saiz ladang yang dicadangkan terlalu besar.
Jelas beliau, dasar kerajaan negeri ketika itu adalah menetapkan setiap ladang ternakan babi hanya untuk menampung keperluan rakyat negeri Selangor iaitu sekitar 250,000 ekor dan bukan bagi tujuan eksport secara besar-besaran.
“Dalam perbincangan itu, kita hanya meluluskan projek ini sekiranya saiz ladang ternakan mengikut apa yang telah ditetapkan oleh kerajaan negeri.
“Bagaimanapun, kita menolak cadangan ini atas faktor saiz dan kita tidak pernah mengeluarkan sebarang kelulusan dan keputusan secara muktamad supaya projek ini dilaksanakan.
[More at http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2008&dt=0409&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Dalam_Negeri&pg=dn_05.htm]
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Khir nafi lulus projek ternak babi - Utusan
Projek babi diteruskan -- Orang ramai, NGO bantah keputusan Kerajaan Selangor - Utusan
Oleh Zabry Mohamad dan Rozilan Salleh
SHAH ALAM 8 April – Kerajaan campuran Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), DAP dan Pas negeri Selangor tetap meneruskan projek ternakan babi moden di negeri itu walaupun mendapat bantahan pelbagai pihak termasuk pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO).
Menteri Besar Selangor, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim berkata, barisan Exco negeri yang bermesyuarat Rabu lalu merasakan amat wajar untuk meneruskan projek berkenaan memandangkan kawasan tersebut telah menjadi tapak utama ladang babi di negeri itu.
Beliau mendakwa projek bernilai RM100 juta yang akan dilaksanakan di Sepang itu sebenarnya telah diluluskan pada 30 Januari lalu oleh kerajaan negeri sebelum ini.
Kenyataan Abdul Khalid itu bercanggah dengan pengumuman Ahli Exco Selangor, Teresa Kok kelmarin bahawa kerajaan campuran negeri baru meluluskan projek membangunkan ladang babi bernilai RM100 juta di Sepang.
Berikutan kenyataan itu, orang ramai serta beberapa persatuan pengguna membantah dan menyifatkan keputusan kerajaan negeri sebagai tidak menghormati sensitiviti rakyat.
Abdul Khalid seterusnya berkata: ‘‘Kerajaan negeri berharap pihak yang begitu prihatin mengenai kelulusan projek ternakan babi di Selangor memeriksa fakta mereka terlebih dahulu.
[More at http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2008&dt=0409&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Muka%5FHadapan&pg=mh_01.htm]
Kuasa ‘veto’ Astro tamat akhir tahun - Utusan
CYBERJAYA 8 April – Kuasa ‘veto’ Astro yang mengenakan caj ‘tersembunyi’ kepada 2.3 juta pelanggannya akan dikawal oleh kerajaan apabila stesen berbayar itu dikehendaki beroperasi di bawah Akta Komunikasi dan Multimedia 1998 menjelang akhir tahun ini.
Serentak itu, Astro turut diarahkan oleh kerajaan supaya tidak menambah lagi bilangan saluran sedia ada sehingga Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia (SKMM) berpuas hati dengan usaha-usaha penambahbaikan yang dibuat.
Menteri Tenaga, Air dan Komunikasi, Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor berkata, Astro yang diberikan lesen operasi pada 1997 perlu patuh kepada arahan kerajaan supaya berhijrah ke akta baru.
Menurutnya, ketika diberikan lesen, Astro beroperasi di bawah Akta Penyiaran dan Akta Telekom dengan kedua-duanya sudah dimansuhkan tetapi lesen mereka masih terletak di bawah Akta Komunikasi Multimedia 1998.
‘‘Ada banyak dakwaan mengatakan pakej yang Astro beri seolah-olah macam ‘bufet’, dia beri 10 hingga 15 siaran dan ada saluran yang kita tidak mahu tetapi pelanggan tidak diberi pilihan untuk menolaknya.
‘‘Walaupun ini merupakan sebahagian daripada pakej dan Astro kata tiada kos dikenakan, namun saya percaya memang ada kos dikenakan.
[More at http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2008&dt=0409&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Muka%5FHadapan&pg=mh_05.htm]
Azalina refutes Guan Eng, Khalid's claims - Malaysiakini.tv
Newly appointed Tourism Minister Azalina Othman Said refuted Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng and Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim claims that her ministry was punishing tourists by terminating their memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with the states.
Termination Of MoU In Five States Will Not Affect Tourism - Matta - Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 (Bernama) -- The tourism industry in states under the Pakatan Rakyat's (People's Alliance) rule will not be affected despite the move by the Tourism Ministry to terminate memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with contractors and operators of tourism activities in the five states.
Malaysia Association of Travel and Tour Agents (Matta) deputy president Datuk Mohd Khalid Harun said the new state governments would have their own visions to boost tourism as well as measures to improve the sector.
"It's Matta's wishes that the five new state governments will continue the federal government's efforts and work together to promote the states' holiday destinations," he told Bernama after the prize presentation for the winners of the Mata Fair 2008 Buyers' Contest here Tuesday.
Khalid said the government and the tourism industry players should continue promoting popular destinations as they played an important role in attracting tourists.
Destinations such as Pulau Pangkor in Perak and Pulau Langkawi in Kedah should be promoted further, he added.
[More at http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=325508]
Ethnic Indians warn of more street protests unless Malaysia frees detainees - AP
By Julia Zappei
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Ethnic Indian activists in Malaysia warned Tuesday of more street protests if the government doesn't free five activists being held without trial under a strict security law.
The top five leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force were arrested in December after organizing a rally in which about 20,000 Indians protested alleged government discrimination. Police used tear gas and water cannons to crush the protest.
The activists are being held under the Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite detention without trial.
"I'm warning the government ... don't play with fire. We will go down again to protest," said S. Manikavasagam, a leading activist with Hindraf and a recently elected member of Parliament.
Malaysia's minority Indian community largely voted against the government in general elections last month, partly because of the wave of sympathy that followed the police crackdown on the Hindraf protest. One of the Hindraf leaders detained was elected to a state assembly seat while imprisoned.
N. Surendran, a lawyer with the group, said the election results showed "people are repulsed and disgusted by detention without trial."
"People are waiting. ... If the government is not going to shift its position, the people will have a right to protest peacefully," he said.
[More at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23931028/]
Penang Plans Inter-religious Goodwill Council - Bernama
PENANG, April 8 (Bernama) -- The Penang government plans to set up an Inter-Religious Goodwill Council to enhance cooperation, ties and understanding among the people of various races and religions in the state.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the council would comprise religious experts appointed by the state government and headed by him and two deputy chief ministers -- Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin and Prof P. Ramasamy.
The proposal would be tabled at the state executive council meeting Wednesday, he told reporters after meeting Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang at his office here Tuesday.
He said the council was also aimed at ensuring justice to all religions.
"PAS has welcome the proposal and it will also ensure religious issues are not turned into tools by certain groups to the extent of making people to be dissatisfied," he said.
Hadi said the recent election results showed that the people wanted opposition parties to stay united in all their actions and decisions, and setting up a goodwill council was among the consensus reached.
[More at http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=325486]
吉大臣：不明白回教刑法‧卡巴星最好不出声 - Guang Ming Daily
（吉打‧亚罗士打）吉打州务大臣阿兹占说，行动党主席卡巴星完全不明白回教刑法，因此最好保持缄默勿加以討论，因为还有其他更重要的课题需要人民联盟政府去討论。
阿兹占今日（週二，8日）早上主持吉打州经济发展局会议后，受询及卡巴星不愿到吉兰丹瞭解回教党执政的实况，但却一直发表抗拒回教国言论一事作出回应。
询及会否邀请卡巴星到吉打瞭解情况，阿兹占说，卡巴星隨时都可以到吉兰丹或吉打去。“他去哪里都可以，但我们不会特地邀请他。”
大臣说，回教党要建回教国只是一个“意愿”（hasrat），就像卡巴星的“意愿”是不要回教国，因此双方没有必要围绕在“意愿”方面討论。
提到回教刑法不会用在非回教徒身上时，大臣强调，回教党执政时根本就没有討论过回教刑法的问题，而卡巴星也不明白回教刑法。“只有小偷、强盗或伤风败德的人才会害怕回教刑法，如果不是小偷或强盗，根本不必害怕回教刑法。”
[From http://www.guangming.com.my/node/24793]
Ka Chuan: DAP, PKR courting danger - The Sun
PETALING JAYA (April 8, 2008): MCA secretary-general Datuk Ong Ka Chuan says DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) are courting danger by cooperating with PAS if they cannot stop the Islamic party from giving up its plans of turning Malaysia into an Islamic state.
In an interview with Sin Chew Daily published today, he used the Chinese proverb "Yang hu wei huan" (rearing a tiger to court calamity later) to describe the action of the two parties in forming Rakyat (PR) with PAS.
He pointed out that people will drop their guard against PAS' Islamic state goal now that the party is part of the alliance.
But politics is unpredictable, and "who can guarantee that PAS will not go ahead to make Malaysia an Islamic state in time to come when it becomes powerful enough to do so?" he asked.
"This is like you know your partner has an ulterior motive, and you give the public your word, 'my partner will not do what he intends to do'.
"But the political situation keeps changing. Today PAS cannot by itself fulfil its goal of turning Malaysia into an Islamic state, but it (the goal) is in the party constitution and its like a time-bomb to the multi-racial Malaysian society ...
"If PAS' PR partners cannot convince it to give up the Islamic state goal, (what) they are (doing is) "Yang hu wei hua" (inviting troubles).
[More at http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=21369]
Survey finds that Malaysians outgrow race-based politics - AFP
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysians have outgrown race-based politics and overwhelmingly want the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition to merge into a multiracial party, according to a survey released Tuesday.
The Merdeka Centre research firm said that Muslim Malays, who dominate the population, as well as ethnic Chinese and Indians no longer believe they are betraying their race by voting across ethnic lines.
"People are now looking more at issues like the cost of living. People are more practical in their considerations, and not weighed down by communal interests," the centre's executive director Ibrahim Suffian told AFP.
The phenomenon was seen in the March 8 elections, when the Malay-dominated coalition suffered an unprecedented setback as support swung towards a three-party coalition alliance led by the multiracial Keadilan party.
Keadilan's partners, the Islamic party PAS and the Chinese-based Democratic Action Party, also enjoyed solid support from Malaysians of all races who made a strong protest vote against the ruling coalition.
The Merdeka Centre -- which polled 1,024 people from March 14-21 -- found that two in every three voters want the coalition, which is made up of 14 parties representing particular races, to meld into a single entity.
Ibrahim said, however, that there was only a "remote" chance of drastic reform by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which helms the ruling coalition that has dominated politics since independence 50 years ago.
[More at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/340107/1/.html]
Calls Emerge For PM, Mahathir To Meet Again - Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 (Bernama) -- Calls have emerged for Prime Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to meet again to patch up their differences.
Cheras Umno Division chief Datuk Syed Ali Al Habshee suggested Tuesday that Abdullah lead an Umno Supreme Council delegation at the meeting with Dr Mahathir to resolve their spat.
He said it was pointless to go on accusing each other in the media as this would only lead to destruction of the party.
Umno veteran Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Tapa said in Melaka that the council of former elected representatives, Mubarak, should help in the mediation effort to stop the hurling of accusations.
Both Abdullah and Dr Mahathir had a private meeting on Oct 22 2006 following a similar spat.
After the general election last month, in which the Barisan Nasional (BN) lost its two-third majority in the Dewan Rakyat and lost Penang, Kedah, Perak and Selangor to the Opposition while failing to recapture Kelantan, Dr Mahathir resumed his criticisms of Abdullah and has even called for his resignation.
[More at http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=325381]
DAP only has qualms about Islamic state - The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: The DAP accepts Islam as the country’s official religion as long as PAS has no plan to turn the country into an Islamic state or introduce hudud laws, its chairman Karpal Singh said.
He said that he had, at no time, belittled Islam and DAP had no quarrel with PAS except for its fundamental ideology to turn Malaysia into an Islamic state and introduce hudud laws.
Karpal Singh said the DAP accepted Islam as the official religion of the country as guaranteed under the Federal Constitution.
“PAS must accept and face reality and not depart from what the Constitution provides and the views of former prime ministers Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Hussein Onn.
“There’s no doubt that the Chinese and Indians in Kelantan are happy, but that doesn’t mean that they subscribe to the creation of an Islamic state or the introduction of hudud laws,” he said in a statement yesterday.
[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/8/nation/20879837&sec=nation]
Karpal happy over PM’s Ops Lalang revelation - The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: DAP chairman Karpal Singh is happy that Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had revealed that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was responsible for Operasi Lalang which resulted in the arrest of 106 people under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in 1987.
He said Prime Minister’s revelation brought into focus the necessity to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to probe Dr Mahathir’s abuse of powers then.
Karpal Singh, who was himself arrested under the ISA in 1987, said that Dr Mahathir had him rearrested even after the Ipoh High Court had freed him in March 9, 1988.
“What I cannot accept about Dr Mahathir is the matter in which he abused his power, by destroying the judiciary and the abuse of the ISA to get to political opponents like me,” he said in a statement yesterday.
[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/8/nation/20883306&sec=nation]
I won’t overstay as PM, says Abdullah - The Star
KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi says he has no intention of overstaying as Prime Minister but wants to put all things in order before retiring.
Abdullah, the Umno president and Barisan Nasional chairman, wants to put the party and ruling coalition on a stronger footing first.
“I will retire one day. I will not stay any longer than I should. But there are things I would like to do now. Of course, I cannot leave at a time when the party is in this condition,” he said when asked if he had a succession plan in mind after naming Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as his successor.
Abdullah said he had no intention of remaining as Prime Minister “for years”, adding: “Datuk Seri Najib understands more than you can understand it.”
[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/8/nation/20880910&sec=nation]
